calendar says spring. much of the country, though still in the icy grip of winter. this is bordentown, new jersey,

just outside of philadelphia, up to five inches expected near the jersey shore. and check this out. parts of illinois will got record snow from the storm. this is urbana where drivers were urged to stay off the roads because of what ayou're looking at, bad conditions there. not too far away in the city of springfield, took first place for getting the most snow. city set a one-day record of a whopping 18 1/2 inches. and new jersey, a mega millionaire may be among you. lottery officials just announced the winning powerball ticket for a $338 million jackpot was sold -- you listening? at eagle liquors in passaic, new jersey. lottery officials say no one has claimed the prize. >> the winners have one year to come forward. and i would like to say it's not unusual that somebody winning a prize this large, whether it's a sole person or a group of people -- they often take their time. we don't hear right away.

>> we're told only one winning ticket was sold. and good news. if you like rapper lil wayne -- ♪ see the scars that remain ♪ i see wayne -- this week after being hospitalized for a seizure, he's aback to business announcing a 40-city summer tour today along with names like t.i. and future. the first show is july 9th in birmingham, alabama. that's it for me. i'm brooke baldwin at the cnn headquarters in atlanta. now "the lead" with jake tapper starts now. are we finally going to have a winner in the battle over same-sex marriage? i'm jake tapper, and this is "the lead." the national lead, all the protests, all the appeals, all the uncomfortable arguments at the dinner table have led to this week. the potential power to define marriage is coming for the supreme court. the world lead is criticizing the russian government hazardous to your health? the mysterious death of a

one-time billionaire. and the pop culture lead. the white house blowing up, commander in chief held at gun point. where is hollywood obsessed at putting the president in peril. ? we start, of course, with our national lead. for years we've watched court cases that were always destined to end up before the u.s. supreme court, setting precedents that will determine once and for all whether, in the u.s., gay and lesbian couples can legally marry. and now the time is here. the cases have arrived. tomorrow the nine justices will hear arguments over california's proposition 8, the law that voters passed in 2008 banning same-sex marriage in california. and on wednesday the court will hear a separate case challenging the defense of marriage act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. signed into law in 1996 by president clinton who now supports the overturning of that law. at least one of the nine on the court has a personal connection to this issue, chief justice john roberts has a cousin from

san francisco who is a lesbian and reportedly wants to marry her partner. she will be in the room as roberts guest during the prop 8 arguments. so will cc cnn senior analyst jeffrey toobin who will prep us on that, the author of "the oath." jeff, thanks for being here on "the lead." you're the lead on "the lead." there are a lot of legal issues and torts. but for you this comes down to one question. >> both cases, same question -- can the government, in giving out benefits, whether it's taxes, whether it's marriage, whether it's child custody, say gay people get one set of benefits and straight people get another? can gay people get less? those are really the questions in both cases, and the court has never really answered that question clearly. and we should know a lot more tomorrow. >> and in terms of court watching, we know that there are generally four -- traditionally

four liberal justices we assume will support same-sex justices, three or four conservative justices who will probably oppose it. does this, like so many other cases before it, come down to justice kennedy? >> anthony kennedy is the most powerful judge and maybe the most powerful person in america because of the split you talk about. one reason why supporters of same-sex marriage are optimistic about his vote is that, even though kennedy usually sides with the conservatives, gay rights has been a subject where he has sided freeblquently withe liberals, the author of the two most important gay rights decisions at the supreme court. so there's a lot of optimism among gay rights supporters that they will get his vote on either or both of these cases. >> and lastly, jeff, the presence of chief justice roberts' lesbian cousin -- and we're not telling the viewers anything that she hasn't announced to the world -- is there any significance to her presence there tomorrow? >> you know, john roberts is

going to decide this case on the merits and i don't know how he's going to come out, but i also know about john roberts' background. i've written about him a lot. he's from a very conservative town in a conservative part of northern indiana, catholic family, very serious observant catholics, very republican family. i had no idea until "the l.a. times" broke this story that he had an openly lesbian very close cousin. but that's america today, and it is just an i think very revealing window into how the country has changed. >> jeffrey toobin, thank you so much. these two cases are going before the supreme court at a time when public support for same-sex marriage continues to grow. recent polls show that's the case, but maybe the most striking number of concerns how many americas count gays and lesbians as close members of their circles these days, the higher visibility of gay power in hollywood has not exactly hurt that cause. >> knock knock, anybody homo?

>> i am, i am. >> it's just a tv show, a situation comedy, not even a drama. >> tonight at dinner i'll tell my mother i'm gay. >> vice president biden has credited "will & grace" with changing americans' attitudes about same-sex marriage. >> i think will & grace probably did more to educate the american public than anything anybody's done so far. >> on this, supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage agree, hollywood has been influential of encouraging acceptance of gays and lesbians. it was through the medium of television that millions of americans first had open gays and lesbians in their living rooms. >> i can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger? it was even fodder for the "golden girls". >> everyone wants someone to grow old with. shouldn't everyone have that chance? >> i'm judd. >> in 1994, pedro on the real world san francisco introduced a gay man with hiv/aids to

millions of then-teenagers. he died that year and was praised by president clinton. ♪ so no one told you life was gonna be this way ♪ >> it helped to create an environment of acceptance where more and more gays and lesbians came out of the closet. the six friends may have all been straight, but more and more americans have friends that are not. and that's what's changed dramatically over the past few years. consider this -- a new cnn poll shows 57% of americans say they have a family member or close friend who's gay. that's a huge jump from just a few years ago and almost double what it was 20 years ago. >> i pronounce you legally married. >> and as those numbers have changed, so has support for same-sex marriage. our cnn poll shows 53% of americans now say these marriages should be recognized as valid. that's up from 40% in 2007. you could call it the portman

effect. >> i'm announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples' opportunity to marry. >> last week ohio republican senator rob portman became the first sitting republican senator to publicly support same-sex marriage a change of heart he says after his son came out of the closet, he said. years ago, former vice president dick cheney did the same after learning his daughter mary was a lesbian, putting him for years to the left of president obama on this issue. >> i think freedom means freedom for everyone, and, as many of you know, one of my daughters is gay, and something that we've lived with for a long time in our family. i think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. >> of course these recent numbers also show that almost half of americans still oppose

same-sex marriage. >> this country's doom is coming. >> and they'll be watching just as closely this week when the supreme court tackles the hot-button issue for the very first time. they're the last people you want making mistakes but reducing the insane hours for medical interns may do more harm than good, according to new data released just moments ago. back in 2011, the maximum shift interns could work was cut from 24 to 16 hours, but one study shows that interns did not sleep any longer and they were actually more worried about making mistakes. another study shows that patients thought it led to a lower quality of care, both studies being presented in the journal of the american medical association. they're not police or military. they're just ordinary citizens. but when it counted, they came through. a short while ago, four everyday americans were given an extraordinary honor. the citizens service before self honors award. medal of honor recipients chose them for going above and beyond in serving their community.

this year's resip yenlts include a father and son team in louisiana who used their boat to rescue victims of hurricane isaac. a 15-year-old boy who saved a neighbor from a burning home in oregon and catholic leader who runs a homeless shermt in california. a side note if you were wondering why no one from newtown, connecticut, they said nominations from sandy hook are being handled separately. a russian billionaire is found dead in his london home. so people are asking questions about a radioactive chemical. plus, actor jim carrey versus the nra. why conservatives are up in arms over his last parody. we'll have that and more ahead in our pop lead. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. now it's time for our world lead. as investigators try to figure out what killed a man the kremlin dubbed enmy of the state friends and allies of borys bare

shoveski passionately insist on not what killed him but who. he was found dead in his home over the weekend. an autopsy is being performed on his body. but no matter what the investigation reveals, there are those who will always believe the contentious relationship with russian president vladimir putin is what ultimately cost him his life. it's not just the death raising eyebrows. russian government states a raid earlier today at aamnesty international offices in moscow, the government accused its political foe for spying for foreign governments. putin says the raid is just an scamp of why it's always best to play nice with mother russia. phil black joins me live now from moscow. phil, welcome. >> reporter: jake, a 67-year-old man collapsing in his bathroom and dying would not normally become an international news story, nor would the police normally block off his home and test for radioactive convict tom nation. but that is what has happened in the case of the death of borys

bare zofski. he was one of russia's richest men who went on to be one of the most vocal critics much putin. anybody who knew him in the 1990s described him as driven and ambitious, not your average mathematician. he became one of the country's hated oligarchs, that small number of ruthless businessmen who quickly built enormous personal wealth, snapping up state resources cheaply as russia chaotically embraced capitalism. he also charmed, pestered and lobbied his way into the kremlin. becoming an influential political player. and as president borys yeltsin's health declined -- this is january of 2010 sfeeking to cnn just days after putin took over. >> i think that putin will

continue the way which president yeltsin established russia. >> reporter: he was wrong. putin pushed oligarchs out of russian politics. six months later, he told cnn vladimir putin was creating a dictatorship. that year he was investigated for corporate crimes, which he denied, and he fled russia. never to return. this death after 12 years in exile has not softened many russians' opinion of him. this woman says he betrayed russia and wrecked many things for the country during its hardest times. this woman used to work for bereovsky and remained a family friend. one of the first to learn of his death. >> selfish but positive. he was very difficult but good friend. he tried to be good friend and

good man. sometimes he didn't succeed. >> reporter: despite those flaws and failures, he says he is proud to witness berezovsky trying to change russia. >> money was not important. it was resources to make changes. >> reporter: he says his friend was unhappy and he was in financial trouble, but he wouldn't have harmed himself. and he says berezovsky had always hoped to someday return to russia. there is a reason this death has triggered so much suspicion, and that is because of the suspicious deaths of other dissidents abroad because people who opposed putin here in russia are often prosecuted while the russian government says that it always treats its opponents fairly, critics of the government here say there's an undeniable trend, and that is criticizing the government carries great risk, jake.

>> thank you. so how concerned should the united states be with what's going on in russia? i'm joined by longtime diplomat george mitchell. now chairman emeritus of an international law firm. senator mitchell, thanks for 0 joining us. mysterious deaths, acid attacks at the ballet. amnesty international offices raided. are we seeing a democratic regression in russia, or have we just started now paying attention? >> well, i think that the path to democracy and genuine democratic institutions historically has taken quite a while. and while russia has achieved the forms of democracy, clearly does not have the full substance of democracy. these incidents and many others you describe really demonstrate that, and i think it will some time. but there's nothing really surprising about that, jake. in france it took a half century, in england more than two centuries, in our own country quite some time after the fighting added to establish

the united states. so it will be a while. i do think these are obviously troubling incidents. i think after putin leaves, as ultimately he will, the path may smooth out more than it has now. >> senator, how would you describe the obama administration's relationship with putin? is he an effective partner in any way? can he be trusted in any way? >> well, i don't think any major country bases its national policy on trust of others. it really is ultimately based on self interest and what we think is in the interest of our own country and our own policies. i think there are some areas where our interests will coincide and we can cooperate, others where they're not. just obvious, syria is a major issue now. russia's longstanding friendship with the syrian government and its relationship there will make it difficult for it to part ways with assad, but they recognize, i think already, that they must do so and are embarking on a transition there.

russia's relationship with iran is very important. remember, they once shared a long border when russia was the soviet union, and they've had a fraught relationship on and off at times. so we can enlist their support sometimes and other times that will not be the case. but we have to be patient and firm. again, our policies should be based on our self-interest, not trusting or mistrusting any other leader. >> diplomat and former senate majority leader george mitchell, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, jake. those russians are seeing red over an 11th hour bailout plan to save the small island of cyprus. it's not that the country wanted cyprus to go under. it's that some russian investors will take the biggest hilt. the plan basically says, let's have cyprus pay its bills by using money from deposits of more than 100,000 euros. that's because nothing else is insured. p but aa lot of those deposits

come from russian oligarchs. despite the anger russian government seems set to let the bailout go through. what is karzai's greatest asset? it may be his ability to survive. the leader is stuck in a challenging situation, maintaining his relationship with the united states while still convincing the afghan people that he really wants us off his lawn. nick paton walsh is in kabul where he's traveling with secretary of state john kerry on his first official trip to afghanistan. kerry made a surprise stop to visit karzai today. nick, how is kerry trying to help karzai? >> reporter: i think leaning on that longtime friendship they talked about in the press conference today, perhaps trying to let people in washington know that the u.s. is working with the taliban to prevent violence

denied by many there to suggest they can still work with him, he's still potentially an ally. but we're really talking about a very fraught relationship here that requires this kind of theater in front of cameras when really the u.s. and afghanistan should be working so closely, these vital agreements in the future, because of the drawdown that's happening now. they should be working in harmony, not trying to prove to everybody they can still get along, jake. >> nick, this is an unstable leader in an unstable country. what is the prognosis for karzai's continued success in afghanistan after almost all of the u.s. military leaves at the end of next year? >> reporter: well, he's potentially going to leave as well. i mean, he would be the first in a longtime afghan leaders to leave their post voluntarily, to not meet a violent death. he could potentially leave in 2014, and he's trying to find a successor at this point. a lot of the talk today about reconciliation he's going to the

gulf soon where there will soon be an office open where the taliban can talk to the afghan government. john kerry really pushing this idea of a political process here. i think the united states knows it's leaving, it wants to see perhaps the insurgency come to the table with karzai in the hope that whatever it leaves behind except some of the things it wants to see in afghanistan but also means there's not a violent future ahead. >> one last question. what kind muof immunity with th american soldiers have on the ground after the u.s. pulls out most of the troops, roughly 60,000 troops there. some will probably stay behind after the withdrawal date. will they have immunity from prosecution? >> reporter: absolutely important issue here. after the killings alleged by a u.s. soldier, great concerns from afghans. they may have immunity. big deal for afghans, a bigger deal for u.s. officials. they say we can't have troops unless they're immune from prosecution. those are the center of talks today, and i understand from u.s. officials they haven't got

an agreement to immunity at this point. but of course key to the document they're hammering out at the time moment. jake? >> nick, thank you. coming up, president obama is surely way too busy to find time to see the latest box office hit, probably a good thing because he might start taking this personally. hollywood's latest obsession with targeting the presidency. that's our pop lead, and it's next. finding you the perfect place. hotels.com. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is.

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i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." the political lead. can texas go blue? why democrats say the state could be in play and why they

could have governor rick perry to thank. the money lead. mark zuckerberg goes to washington with $20 million. silicon valley pumping lots of tech cash into d.c. but what do they want? and the sports lead. don't call them cinderella. call them rocky balboa. florida gulf coast leveling big-time opponents as they become the lowest seed ever in the sweet 16. we'll get to know the new kids on the block, their millionaire coach, and his maxim model wife. but first, the pop culture lead. the story of eke, ugh and uga, premiered this week "the croods," the movie features the voices of nicholas cage, emma stone and ryan reynolds. with a very solid second place opening, "olympus has fallen"

the thriller about a terrorist attack on the white house, the movie hauling in $30 million with scenes of explosions at the white house and a fictional president held at gunpoint. "olymp "olympus" just one of the movies obsessed with putting the high eflt office of the land in jeopardy for our entertainment. >> let's go, move! >> the white house is under attack. the president is in danger. and there's only one man who can save him. that's the plot of not only "olympus has fallen" but also of "white house down," another president in peril movie coming out 0 this summer starring channing tatum and jamie foxx. >> i voted for him. >> you're insane. >> that's not all. on friday, cobra at the white house, and in may iron man 3 blows a hole in the side of air

force one. >> you elected me on a single platform. i will defend this country at all costs. >> hollywood is getting bolder than ever about putting fictional presidents in the crosshairs and deadline hollywood's dominick patten says audiences are eating it up. >> we're entering the summer blost blockbuster seasons and blockbusters involve blow things up. you're looking at one of the few symbols that anyone in america, republicans, democrats or independent, immediately has a visceral reaction to. >> it reached a heyday when harrison ford sent terrorists often air force one. and everyone remembers when aliens blew up the white house in "independence day." but in the decade after 9/11, there seemed a definite squeamishness with our national landmarks in danger or the president. that is not the case anymore. >> we're talking about hell.

>> you can try to find an agenda behind this, either the president is weak because he allowed his safety to be compromised or he's a hero because he gets his john mcclain on. but in the end the motivation may be the one thing that has always driven hollywood -- the bottom line. >> brock busters mean big. if that involves blowing up the white house and taking down air force one, those are the numbers hollywood is going to go for. >> audiences loved "olympus has fallen" got an a-minus, sitting at 50% at rotten tomatoes. at the cute and fuzzy end frt spectrum, the white house easter egg roll is scheduled for next monday. did you get your tickets in the lottery? no? this year the white house is banking on the president's popularity to make the event a success. i'm not talking about president obama. it's kid president, the 9-year-old tennessee boy who has become a viral video sensation. cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar joins us from the north lawn to explain.

brianna, what is kid president? >> reporter: kid president is this little boy, jake, whose name is robbie novak, and he dons a little suit because he ace a little guy and plays kid president delivering some pretty hilarious and but also very inspirational messages. he does this it on videos with help from his older brother-in-law, and this airs on sole pancake, which is a kind of feel-good web site. he is the special guest for the easter egg roll, but he was also tasked with doing pr for the event. check it out. >> kid president, looks like you got my message. >> yes, mr. president, i got your message. this is historic, the white house easter egg roll. kids dancing, eggs rolling. i'm in. you should be, too. i got asked by the white house people. i can't believe this is happening. my head's getting ready to explode. you should make my head explode. yeah, that would be so funny. >> you want to edit your head

exploding? >> yeah. do it, man. do it for the children. >> pretty funny little guy. he'll be bringing his sense of humor here to the white house for the easter egg roll monday, and he'll be here with dozens of other guests, including charlie brown and snoopy, you've got mr. and mrs. potato head, scoopy dao and also a couple of jakes, jake from adventure time and jake from the neverland pirates if you're familiar, since you do have little kids. >> i am very familiar, there's cubby, izzy. >> reporter: oh, goodness. >> thank you so much, brianna keilar. on a more serious note, 850,000 vietnam veterans are alive today, and the memories still sting. now they're all getting an apology from cbs. after the network aired an episode of "the amazing race" taped near the hanoi war memorial in vietnam, including the wreckage of a downed b-52 bomber in which two americans died. the episode also featured vietnamese children singing a

pro-communism song. the american legion national commander, a vietnam vet himself, called it a disgraceful slap in the face to american war here roz. odds the nra is laughing at jaim carrie's new video are about a billion to one. so you dumb and dumber fans should be saying, you're saying there's a chance. in the video, carrey mocks gun supporters, even the late charlton heston. ♪ charlen heston movies are no longer in demand ♪ ♪ and his immortal soul may lay forever in the sand ♪ ♪ the angels wouldn't take him up to heaven like he planned ♪ ♪ because they couldn't pry that gun from his cold dead hand ♪ >> of course conservative pundits didn't waste time firing back. they say many of jim carrey's

movies have glamorized the violence he's talking about. take these scenes, for example. >> hi, i'm looking for ray fink elle. and a clean pair of shorts. a tommy gun. >> he says he made the video because he's frustrated by the rash of gun violence. here's what he also told initial tu nischelle turner about his recent for ray into politics. >> reporter: what drew you to this, just the message and everything we're seeing these days? >> yeah. it's life, life in the fast lane in america. i want to treat it in a humorous way, but i guess i'm trying to say a little something. >> carrye's funny or die video has 250,000 views. hash tag, you're in. come up with a title for jim carrey's next anti-gun song, assuming he does one. tweet it to us. they call it the greenroom

so it's a aperfect place for us to take a peek into our panel as they prepare for this week's politics lead. republican senator is saying it's time to stop sending kids to jail over pot. is the gop platform about to go up in smoke? we'll hear what our panel thinks about it all. that's ahead.

the money lead. mark zuckerberg is now trying to influence your life in a whole new way. the facebook billionaire just made a move into politics, reportedly putting up $20 million to help launch a political nonprofit. the lead's aaron mcpike is here. he's not the only very, very young, very, very wealthy silicon type getting involved in politics, is he? >> no, he's not but the other big names won't be announced for another couple of weeks. they're not ready to roll them out yet.

one of the big organizers told me they'lling working as responsible individuals not on behalf of their companies but of course it could still affect their bottom lines. mark zuckerberg is one of the youngest billionaires in the world. at just 28 years old, he's worth $13.3 billion, and his global empire facebook has more than 1 billion unique visitors a month. along with that money comes power and lots of it. president obama visited his company's headquarters. celebrities have showered him with attention. and hollywood even made a movie about his life. >> people want to go on the internet and check out their friends. >> but the sweatshirt wearing zuckerberg is looking to broaden his influence this year. sources tell cnn he's one of a growing group of mega wealthy tech stars throwing their famous names behind an issue advocacy organization to make waves in washington. they're forming what's known as a 501c4, a nonprofit organization that can raise

unlimited amounts of money to lobry congress on the issues they care about, starting with immigration. the issue is obviously an important one to zuckerberg and his had contemporaries. earlier this month, he and more than 100 other tech leaders wrote to president obama urging him to move on immigration reform this year. the letter was organized by a bipartisan political policy network technet and included top executives from yahoo! oracle, ebay and microsoft. >> there have been other issues but we view this issue as a defining issue. you know, last century people talked about the arms race. now it's all about the brain race. so whoever has the best brains, the best minds, the best talent is going to win that race. that's what the united states needs, and immigration is at the core of that issue. so when you think of immigration, it's about bringing talent from all over the globe. >> reporter: after facing criticism for not giving away enough of his fortune, zuckerberg made a splash on oprah in 2010 announcing his plan to plunk $100 million into

newark, new jersey, schools. two years later, zuckerberg and his wife gave 18 million facebook shares or roughly $500 billion to the silicon valley community foundation for health and education funding. >> and most important things that your administration has done. >> reporter: but now it's all about political influence, and zuckerberg is playing both size of the aisle, hosting a town hall for president obama and a fund-raiser for new jersey's republican governor chris christie. in addition to immigration, techies are taking on other issues close to their hearts, education and technology. jack dorsey co-founder of twitter and founder of square joined zuckerberg, bill gates and a host of others in a campaign that encourages schools to teach computer coding. now, jake, the reason they're starting with immigration is because it's moving through congress right now. it's a bipartisan push. and it affects their industry. >> but, erin, i interviewed jack dorsey a couple of weeks ago.

i can't tell if these guys are liberal, if they're conservative. you see zuckerberg doing something for obama, something for republican governor christie. where are they in their politics >> from what -- from the people i've talked to, i don't think that they even know. and a lot of the republican organizers of this very thing are saying that a lot of these multimillionaire, mounta multibillionaire techies are just learning how government affects their industries for good and bad. some of them think the obama administration does stifle business growth. so they want to get involved. >> erin, thank you. our sports lead. if you had florida gulf coast in it the sweet 16, you're lying. the team from a city more well known for its snowboard birds and retirees and for red sox spring training is making ncaa history and making it look easy, dunking and dancing their way into the sweet 16. the first-ever 15 seed to make it that far, john berman, who i might observe is bringing up the

rear in our own cnn anchor ncaa poll, has more on the magical run. john, thanks for joining us. >> jake, thank you. thankfully this is not about me. as you said, florida gulf coast university, the first 15-seed to make the sweet 16, they have the best nickname ever in dunk city. and you know, none of this would have been possible 25 years ago because florida gulf coast university didn't even exist 25 years ago. and that's not even the most interesting thing about this unlikely team. it is a team a coach and a tale that is the ultimate cinderella story. assuming cinderella founded a tech start-up worth millions, liked to dress down, way down, liked junk food, and that cinderella could dunk. i mean, really dunk. there has never been a cinderella story like florida

gulf coast university and coach andy enfield. the south ft. myers school with more than 11,000 under grads didn't start holding class until 1997. the basketball team wasn't even eligible for march madness until two years ago. after jilting georgetown in the first round, they sacked san diego state in round two. and they might not be done yet. >> we want to do bigger things here so we're just going to keep being motivated. >> but it's not just the score. it's the way they it get there. high flying sooet of your pants basketball that is just flat-out fun. >> if you're not a fun loving guy, if you take yourself too seriously or you're just a jerk, you're not going to play for me. >> then there's the coach who this weekend heard himself described as -- >> he is the most interesting man in the world. >> i'm not that interesting. i'm a pretty simple person. >> we'll be the judge of that. now 43, he was a college star at johns hopkins. after working as an assistant in

the pros, he helped launch a tech start-up to manage contracts for health services. it grew to be worth millions. that was before he got back into coaching and ultimately took the job at florida gulf coast university. then there's his wife. you might have googled her, aamanda markham enfield is a former model who appeared in "maxim" and "vogue." they met while carpooling to a basketball tournament in 2003. >> how did he woo her? >> i wanted to take her to a nice dinner, but the only thing open was taco bell. >> he bought her a burrito. now they have three kids. must have been some burrito. just the type of magic that seems to be fueling the florida gulf coast run. so sales at the campus bookstore shot up 1,000% this weekend, visits to the web site for prospective students shot up 400% this weekend. times are pretty good for florida gulf coast university. they head to friday night's game when they play the number 3 seed florida.

jake, i'm sure you have florida gulf coast in your brackets. >> i had them losing in the first round, but let's just discuss how badly i'm beating you in the cnn bracket challenge. i am ranked fifth. you're ranked 15th. that's 5 and 15. john, first of all, i assume you did not pick your alma mater harvard to win in the first rund, did you? >> no. that would have been a wise choice, and i made only unwise selections. i suppose the good news is i'm up from dead last. for much of the weekend i was last. now i'm fourth from last, kind of a position of honor. i made the choices from my heart, obvious aly a shrivelled deeply flawed piece of junk. >> well said, john. thank you. is tiger woods back? are you tired of hearing that question? well, you'll hear it a lot today because tiger woods won today at the afrnld palmer invitation, putting him back at the top of world golf rankings. in case what you're wondering his girlfriend lindsay vonn

thought, she posted this on twitter. number 1, yes, that's 13 exclamation points. kind of hard to think in retrospe retrospect, but jimmy carter carried texas, the last governor to pull that off. but now governor rick perry is taking a step that some republicans fear will turn texas blue. we'll tell you how in the politics lead.

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what do snoop lion, the former snoop dogg and rand paul have in common?

they think putting people in jail for smoking pot is crazy. >> the last two presidents could have conceivably been put in jail for their drug use. look what would have happened. it would have ruined their lives. they got lucky, but a lot of poor kids don't get lucky, don't have good attorneys and they go to jail. >> i think it actually would be the last three presidents but who's counting. >> apparently chris wallace. so could rand paul turn the red states green? turning us senior editor for th reporter and cornell belcher. first of all, i have to say, gay marriage and now marijuana legalization, or at least decriminalization. what is going on with the republican party? >> well, you know, i think what's really interesting there is, on the one hand, you've got this liberal shift on social issues on those two issues, and you're not seeing it on abortion. you've seen a real divergence where the country seems to be getting if anything more

pro-life and when we could talk about social issues at one monolith ick whole, that's over. >> as far as the marijuana issue, it's been a libertarian argument for a while. lest we forget his father ron paul's rift at one of the debates on heroin legalization. coming from rand paul this isn't terribly surprising but it does show that the strain of libertarianism within the republican party is growing stronger with him. >> i've got to say i appreciate this when a member of the senate takes a principle stand, but if you look at -- you think about the idea of him running for president, if you look at the gauntlet he'll have to run through a republican primary in the south with all those christian conservatives it might be an issue. i'm appraimazed the country is on marijuana legalization. i have to think the power of the christian base in the south he'll have to win over in the republican party might not be a abig fan of the legalization. >> ron brown stein has an

interesting column about rick perry's war on obamacare, the theory that it may help turn texas blue. about one in four texans are uninsured, some 6 million people, the total population of missouri. does this actually put texas at risk? could a democrat win because of rick perry waging war on obamaware, refusing to expand medicaid to help insure up to 6 million people? >> well, it's also possible the public might just get sick of governor for life rick perry in texas. look, i think republican governors are at risk no matter what they do on this question. the governors who say they'll cooperate with the expansion of medicaid have gotten pretty serious criticism from republicans and a lot of time the legislatures aren't cooperating. i suspect if perry went along with it, his legislature wouldn't. >> quickly, before democrats get too excited, texas is a big, very expensive state. truth of the matter is, democrats keep looking at the

shift in demographics in texas, say, we can put this state in play. we would -- texas is like a country. you would have to come up with a lot more money to sort of put texas in play, and that's a real -- so you shift resources from ohio and florida to move to texas? that it's a real risky proposition for democrats. >> also, they use a lot of the figures of hispanics, the growing hispanic population in texas. but not all hispanics down there are democrats. there are a lot of moving parts here. i think it's going to be a little bit before -- it. >> a heavy lift for democrats. >> and then finally before i let you guys go, we were talking about social issues and republican party shifting. karl rove said this on abc, asked about whether or not there could be a republican presidential nominee who supported same-sex marriage. >> karl rove, can you imagine the next presidential campaign a republican candidate saying flat-out, i'm for gay marriage? >> i could. >> he said yes, then changed the

subject pretty quickly. do you think it's possible? >> i think what's more likely is you've got a republican fom kno who changes the subject quick. the rank and file republican partivily actually haven't chan too much, it's democrats and independents who have moved. i think what you'll see is republicans accepting if there is same-sex marriage across the country or in many states they won't do anything about it but not themselves come out for it. >> still there's the primary votes and activists don't think this should happen. >> especially in iowa. >> right. >> south carolina. >> in iowa they had a huge problem with it. so, yeah, getting -- the way the republican primary process is set up right now, good luck. >> "wall street journal" polling had 27% of republicans favor this. that's not a winning place to be if you're a republican in a primary. >> thank you all three. it's no surprise that big drug companies make big bucks

off consumers, but are they playing fair? the little thing they're doing you probably never knew about and why the supreme court is weighing in. that's our buried lead, and it's next. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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